College Is Not Worth The Loans
There is 1 Trillion dollar owed in U.S. College debt.
Clinton said the other night “ The new student loan plan by Obama will change the course for all Americans”.
The new plan is crap.
All it will do is help you avoid paying back your loan and keep you in debt.
I had student loans. My kids won’t.
Here are some thoughts on College, debt and loans for parents and for kids.
College is overpriced and not worth what you get in the classroom in my opinion. I have never been one for the classroom. I got by school on the least amount of effort possible and my grade average was a solid B from elementary through college. College is a great experience but you are not paying for the experience. I never thought I would go to College so I did not plan for it until the day I graduated high school.
I went to Hope International University in Fullerton, CA. I went there because:
-They had no curfew
-They had a degree in Church Ministry
-They were in So. Cal.
They put me on academic probation the first semester limiting me to 12 units. That is for 4 classes. At that rate, I would be in there for well over 4 years.
The average student finishes college in 4.5 years because of this or taking the wrong classes, switching majors or just messing around.
Only 56% of the students who enter America’s colleges and universities graduate within six years, while only 29 percent of students who enter two-year programs complete their degrees within three years.
I mentioned on twitter that if most parents would stop financing 1 or 2 of their cars, then you could put your kid through college. The average car payment is $475 a month.
Here is what Dave Ramsey says: Think about it this way: If you were to invest that $475 (remember, this is the average car payment in the U.S.) into a good mutual fund with a 12% rate of return, you would have over $100,000 in 10 years! At 20 years, you would have made $470,000. And at 30 years? That mutual fund would be worth $1.6 million!
That would be enough to pay for college. If not here are some tips.
1. Get debt free and start saving money now for your kids. You can create a 529 plan for all of your kids and start putting money away.
2. Have your kids take part in their college payment as well. My wife paid for everything. She worked at Burger King, Costco, and the school library prior to coming to college and during college. The whole thing that you can’t work while in college is B.S.
3. 4-year universities and moving away is expensive. If you don’t have all the funds enroll in the local junior college in your city OR move to where you want to go and start taking some classes at the college of your choice and the basic general ed stuff at the cheap college. My friend Jake, my wife and I all took classes at junior college. Did I want to spend $3,000 for a guitar class or 30 bucks? You can pick and choose what you take and can get classes online that transfer.
4. If you go to school full time and pay full-time tuition at one place you pay the same amount for tuition for 12–18 units. Ya.. so take 18. That is 6 classes a semester and will get you on track. I told you about academic probation during my first semester and how ticked I was. I remember sitting in my dorm room and looking at all my classes. I needed 124 to graduate and only got 12 to start. That’s when my basic math came into play. I started thinking I could take J sessions. These are great they are week-long classes in between semesters. Three units down in one week. Perfect.
Summer school sucks but I could do it for cheap and when I went home during a few summers. I came up with a plan that day in the dorm that put me graduating in 3 years. It was not going to be easy but was doable. I had to average 18 units, take J sessions, two summers of summer school and my final semester in college I had 22 units. It worked. Yes, those extra classes cost some money but not as much as a whole other year in school would. You think I am just crazy… I showed my best friend how to do it and he did it as well. You got to just stick to a plan.
5. College degrees I believe are getting less and less important all the while they are costing people more and more money. A degree does not equal a job. While you are in school jump into something through an internship or part-time work that is in the field you want to go in and gain experience and connections. Textbook knowledge is not enough nor worth the time and cost that this is going to get you. If you have no clue what you want to do, don’t spend this kind of money thinking it just what you need to do. Take a year off, go on a mission year or figure out more about who you are before jumping into school.
Originally published at blog.craiggross.com.
